Progressive Muscle Relaxation preview

This podcast shares a brief preview of Natural Release our progressive muscle relaxation download:

Muscle tension goes hand in hand with stress and anxiety. When tension goes unnoticed in your body it can bring on headaches, general muscle pain, and fatigue.

This simple exercise will show you how to quickly release tension and become relaxed and comfortable in minutes. If you enjoy this preview, we invite you to download the full meditation in the stress and anxiety relief downloads section of Anxiety Slayer Store.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

In this podcast Ananga talks about how to use Progressive Muscle Relaxation to dissolve stress and tension.

Every day the health press tell us we need to find more ways to relax, but it's hard to know where to begin, or what to try, when you're already feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation is one quick and easy way to add some extra relaxation to your day. It's a simple exercise where you focus on one muscle group at a time and consciously tense it. While holding the tension, you concentrate on how it feels and where that tension travels in your body.

For example, if you clench your right hand into a fist and squeeze it really tight you'll soon feel the tension travelling up your arm. The longer you hold it, the more you feel it, until it becomes really uncomfortable to hold your hand in that clenched state any longer.

With Progressive Muscle Relaxation you hold the tension in one area of your body for a few seconds and then release it suddenly, letting that area go completely limp and relaxed. You will feel relief instantly as your muscles relax and the tension dissolves away until you no longer feel it.

When a muscle is tensed and then suddenly released it has to relax, it's a natural physiological response for the muscle to instantly return to it's previous state which means you immediately feel the comparative relief of tension followed by relaxation, but there's and added advantage to this sudden release of tension; if left to rest, the muscle will become more relaxed than it was before you tensed it.

In Progressive Muscle Relaxation all the major muscle groups of the body are put under tension and then relaxed one by one, which means that your entire body will be relaxed once you have completed the exercise.

Listen to the full podcast here:

To feel the full benefit of Progressive Muscle Relaxation, we recommend you take a look at our Natural Release mp3 in the stress and anxiety relief downloads section of the Anxiety Slayer Store.

Phtot by frisse82

What if I'm Too Tense to Relax?

A reader recently sent me a question saying: "I'm stressed and I know I would benefit from relaxation but I feel too tense to start. Whenever I try to slow down, things seem too slow and I feel frustrated that I could be getting things done rather than sitting doing nothing. How can I find a way to try relaxation and get used to the feeling?"

It's a good question, and it's one that I thing resonates very well with many sufferers of stress and anxiety. When you're busy and you're getting lots done it feels as if you're moving fast. In a similar way to when you're driving a car on a motorway and you're covering distance at speed, when you take an exit and have to slow your speed down, it feels really slow in comparison to the pace you were travelling at just seconds ago. For many busy, stressed, and anxious people, relaxation feels the same way. Rather than settling into the pleasure and calm of a contemplative state, they find it too slow, or too alien to their usual state of productivity and drive.

When Slowing Down Doesn't Feel Good

When you are used to operating in an adrenaline fuelled state, relaxation and meditation can feel really strange and they can seem pointless too. Why would you want to stop and sit still when you have so much to get done?

Or, if anxiety is the case, why would you want to stop and sit with a headful of anxious thoughts, when you could be busying yourself and getting away from your head and feeling more comfortable?

But the trouble with running at high speed all the time is that eventually, your body will call for you to stop. So why not meet it half way? And find a way of relaxing that doesn't feel like you're putting your foot on the brake, or like you're being forced to sit down quietly with a head full of anxious thoughts that you would rather avoid at all costs.

Relaxation to go

The easiest way to do this is to engage in action relaxation. That means activities where you can enjoy the benefits of relaxation while you're still using your body and your mind. Activities like walking, swimming, yoga, or tai chi are all great for stretching out tension from your muscles and helping you relax, but they keep your mind occupied and your body moving so you don't feel like you've ground to an uncomfortable halt.

Listen to the full podcast here:

Slayer Resource: Progressive Muscle Relaxation mp3 download

Natural Release mp3

Muscle tension goes hand in hand with stress and anxiety. Discover how to quickly release tension and become more relaxed with this guided progressive muscle relaxation.

Running Time: 15 minutes | Price: $3.95

 

Take a look at our full collection of stress and anxiety relief downloads here

Photo by fwonkas